Connecting computers to networks has always contained the risk that they could be penetrated with unwanted code via other computers with which they are connected. With the advent of the internet this security problem has become extremely serious. Unlike previous networks in which a limited number of computers were connected to each other, with the internet or world wide web there are so many computers participating from so many different locations that the security problems have become extreme. The advantages of a global network include sharing data or work product on the internet with other users. Users later discovered that by so doing they exposed their computers to various unwanted code from other state and non-state users on the internet. These forms of unwanted code can penetrate other computers using the internet and perform unwanted functions. Some of these functions include cyberattacks and espionage, cybercrime, cyberwarfare, and other forms of malicious, unwelcome or offensive activities which injure or harm the user.
This awful state of affairs was never necessary. If users such as individuals, governments, institutions and businesses had been forewarned of the possibility of these risks, they never need to have connected their computers containing vital or sensitive files or programs to the internet. It was always possible to keep their computers un-connected to the internet but enjoy the advantages of sharing data created by their computers by using a second or buffer computer which was on the internet and then transferring data from the un-connected computer to the buffer computer by a variety of secure external means such as disks or flashdrives. In this way such devices can be loaded with data from the computer un-connected to the internet and then the device connected to the un-secure buffer computer connected to the internet and then the data loaded from the device into the buffer computer to create a file which can be distributed via the internet. By this means it has always been possible to keep certain sensitive computers un-connected to the internet and yet allow data from those computers to be shared on the internet using a buffer computer. If governments, institutions, businesses and individuals had done this then there would be little if any of the security problems which have been created.
Although it's always been possible to avoid internet risks to computers by simply keeping them off the internet and using buffer computers for the internet and to distribute data thereon, there have been unsolved problems. One problem is that this involves having two computers in two different cases. This is not as convenient as having the two computers paired into a single case. Having a single case saves room, is more modular, and allows for ease of use and portability. Another problem is the physical inconvenience of relying on external data transport systems such as flashdrives or disks to move data or files from one computer which is un-connected to the internet to the buffer computer which is connected to the internet.